Stuff You'll Like

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Finding the rooftop to devote your summer to is serious business. If only there was Roof.com to help you find your match. Until someone wisely takes up that sound business idea, this comprehensive list of DC’s rooftop drinking scene should help narrow your search.

Capitol Hill
Head to the rooftop pool and lounge for free after 5pm, especially on weekdays, when happy hour is offered until 7:30pm. Or, create an all day fake escape by grabbing a $25 day pass. One more way to up the ante? Rent a cabana.

Capitol Hill
This handsome retreat that’s part of DC’s Balkan food and drink authority has its own bar, so you’ll never be without rakia. Unless you want to be, in which case there are barrel-aged Negronis.

North Dupont
The rooftop at Jack Rose has two personalities, kind of like Nicki Minaj. Experience both by visiting the open-air terrace Wed-Sun to have a relaxed meal of burgers and fried chicken skins paired with stiff pours of whiskey. Then, return on a Friday or Saturday night after 8pm for Tiki bar access.

​Adams Morgan
Known best for its drag queen brunch, Perry’s should get equal accolades for its excellent rooftop bar and seasonal terrace. It’s so romantic you’ll be feeding each other sushi with chopsticks in no time.

​Adams Morgan
Soul food, starry nights, and sloppy make-outs at an Adams Morgan institution sound about right. Madam’s Organ’s rooftop and Tiki lounge is a nice place to come up for air, either from open mic night or that sloppy make-out session you had in Big Daddy’s Love Lounge.

North Dupont
This relative newcomer to the whiskey scene has a sweet roof deck with its own bar. Those with expensive tastes can work their way through the bar’s bourbon list, which is about 50 lines deep. Or, hit its generous 3:30-8pm happy hour for $5 wine and rail drinks, or $3 domestic cans.

Adams Morgan
You won’t be the first to claim brilliance by busting out Beastie Boys lyrics on the laid-back rooftop at Brass Monkey. So don’t do it. Instead, order some cold beer and let the bar handle the music.

Dupont Circle
The roof deck at Public Bar is so hot that they had to install cooling fans, making it a sweet, shaded spot to camp out. Stay connected to the world via four flat-screen TVs, though we imagine you climbed the stairs to escape the UFC Fight Night or Raiders game going on below.

Dupont Circle
This rooftop wins the superlative for best looking. A sparkling pool, brightly colored couches, and cabanas add to the feeling that you are no longer in the city. Find a spot and try bites and sips from new restaurant Station Kitchen & Cocktails. Pro tip: visit after 5pm when it’s free.

Dupont Circle
Each room inside the Eighteenth Street Lounge has its own breed of cool, but the deck bar takes it to the house. The outdoor chandeliers remind you that you’re having a classy evening, and sometimes the deck gets its own DJ.

Columbia Heights
Working your way down a beer list 70+ suds deep sounds like a good little Sunday. Or Saturday. Or well, always. Do it on Red Derby’s roof. Toss in bacon cheddar fries or chicken tenders to add to the baseball game vibe.

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Logan Circle/14th Street
Feel like you’re above it all at Masa 14 because you pretty much are, especially if you’re visiting during rooftop happy hour when cervezas, cocktails, and wine are $5 from 5-7pm. Another good time to roof it is during “Aftermath” on Sundays from 3-7pm when a DJ reminds you it’s not quite time to return to work.

Logan Circle/14th Street
It can get a bit cramped up there, but people on the prowl certainly don’t mind. Fortunately, mango margaritas and caipirinhas have the power to cool you down. It too has a rooftop happy hour from 5-7pm when you can find deep discounts.

U Street/Shaw
Hit the Lost Society rooftop happy hour on Fridays for $2 drafts and $1 oysters from 5:30-8pm. Spend the whole time ogling all the beautiful people, because there will be beautiful people. And the view.

U Street/Shaw
The Brixton is another expansive beauty overlooking U Street, but sharpen your elbows because getting yourself in front of a bartender to order can be tricky. Visit before 5pm on Saturdays and Sundays for all-day happy hour and sun worshipping.

U Street/Shaw
Hideaway is one word that still gets used to describe this laid-back rooftop option, even though it’s clearly no longer a secret. Hang with a hip crowd as you nosh on truffled deviled eggs and big fat burgers.

U Street/Shaw
You can’t miss this tangerine-colored restaurant bar whose rooftop is historically less crowded than its neighbors (until now). You’ll be happy pounding portobello fries up there or dancing the night away.

H Street NE
An elevated roof deck positions German beer drinkers to people-watch the heck out of the biergarten below. It’s kind of like being on the outside of the cage at the zoo, only with more wursts.

H Street NE
Tenting means you can get your rooftop on even if it’s rumbling and raining this summer. Plus, everyone knows guacamole tastes better outside. For best results, brunch up there from 11am-3pm Saturdays and Sundays.

Downtown
Heading up to the top of The Donovan used to be a treat reserved for after work and weekend nights. But now, you can get brunch up there. Adding to the fun? A pool and a view of Thomas Circle.

Downtown
The patriotic makeover POV received last year sexed up this drink-with-a-view champion. Sure, there’s bottle service but you can skip that and just sip on cocktails and wait for the late-night menu to come into play because... pork belly steamed buns.

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Georgetown
The refined rooftopgoer will appreciate this swanky place to post up outside. It has a partnership with JR Cigar, meaning you can light up something awesome alongside a bourbon shandy (a real thing) while ticking off how many sights you can see.

Georgetown
Game-watching and people-watching are both possible on Old Glory’s rooftop deck. Proximity to the smoker also guarantees you’ll leave smelling like a campfire. Make your al fresco time count by ordering burnt ends served with Texas toast.

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Ambar serves up traditional Balkan cuisine using flavors from the old world and gives them a modern edge. An extensive wine list, complete with glossary, and hand-crafted cocktails pair well with Ambar's small plate menu.

As the name suggests, you won’t find much unnecessary fuss at Mellow Mushroom. You will, however, find pizzas with names that remind you of that summer when you traded a meaningful internship for concerts. We’re referring to the Kosmic Karma and Magical Mystery Tour pies. And don't worry, there's lots of craft beer will help you wash down all that pizza (and all those music festival memories).

With over 2,400 kinds of whiskey lining the brick walls of this high-end saloon, Jack Rose has one of the largest whiskey libraries in the country. The spacious, bi-level Adams Morgan establishment offers a relaxed dining experience downstairs, and a spot to enjoy drinks and watch sports upstairs. Food-wise, the fried chicken skins are a fan favorite, and more adventurous items like rabbit & beans, wild Atlantic rockfish, or Broken Arrow Ranch venison make the staff's expert cocktail pairings an absolute pleasure.

Roofers Union Restaurant marries German and American tastes in a beer-focused Adams Morgan gastropub. You can’t come without ordering a trio of sausages stuffed in-house: one beer-poached brat on sauerkraut, one veal heart wiener on caraway-purple cabbage slaw, one boudin blanc with red onion confit and cranberry. You can always go more American with a bacon burger or fried chicken sandwich, though. The three-storied building is diverse: the first floor plays hosts to an affiliated wine bar called Jug & Table, the second-floor dining room boasts floor-to-ceiling windows and four-top seating, and a covered third floor rooftop is ideal for street-gazing and lapping punch bowls.

Stretching up four floors, Madam's Organ, "Where the Beautiful People Go to Get Ugly", is an awesomely irreverent establishment that has everything, including a year-round roof deck, trivia, "Drunkeoke" (it's exactly what you think), and live music. As an additional bonus, they're open until 3a on Fridays and Saturdays.

With 16 German drafts (non-German beer is not welcome here!), giant pretzels, and a sweet outdoor space with long, communal tables, Sauf Haus is all that you could ask for in a beer hall. Oh, and they've got foosball and brandy, too.

Public Bar is the place you can go to catch hard-to-find sporting events on TV -- with a screen built into individual booths you can choose what you want to watch. Sip on some cheap beers, snack on some delicious wings, and watch the downstairs areas turn into a big dance party as the night wears on. If that's not your scene, head right upstairs and enjoy the all-weather roof deck.

Sky Bar in Dupont sports "black and white trellis patterns and gleaming steel" along the interior, leading out to a terrace that boasts a dual-bar'd covered section, as well as a lush vegetation-filled deck with couches and lounge chairs.

This modern, 4-story cigar bar and Mediterranean eatery serves tasty, quality cocktails on their sprawling, airy patio. There are six fully stocked bars to choose from, and you should definitely order one of their signature martinis once you decide which one to hit.

DC’s Red Derby is a local staple that combines all the necessary ingredients for an optimal night out, including a rooftop, board games, bar snacks, and reasonable prices. The dinner menu consists of American comfort food, like the crowd-favorite sweet potato fries and chicken tenders, tacos, burgers, and a gooey grilled cheese. Be sure to head to the Derby rooftop for brunch, complete with sweet and savory options, like breakfast bowls and French toasts sticks.

For such a small establishment, El Chucho has an impressive bevy menu (making for an awesome happy hour), complete with a variety of margs, spiked sodas, and a 'tail list that includes specialty drinks like the Senor Clusterf*ck.

Built into a 14th Street row house, Zeba's LED-lit grind space (hosting "late-night dancing to the hottest DJs in town") is sandwiched between a relaxed ground-floor patio, and a top-level wooden deck with copious seating and a full bar, making it the most valuable Upper Deck since your Delino DeShields rookie card.

The culinary lovechild of chefs Kaz Okochi (Kaz's Sushi Bistro) and Richard Sandoval (Zengo), Masa fuses the talents of both into a pleasing array of Latin/Asian small plates, in a handsome, open-kitchen 100-seater.

Seeking a new adventure, the masters behind Masa 14 opened Centro to challenge themselves to capture the energy of Mexico City. That energy, apparently, comes straight from superb tacos and tequila. With three floors of raw concrete, walls adorned with Aztec masks, and tables glossed with vintage Mexican newspapers, Centro is undoubtedly a success -- and that's before we even talk about the menu, which features great fish tacos, chicken tamales, and a host of tequila tasting menus. Mexico City rules.

This DC mainstay is exactly what you think it is: a bistro that pays homage to Marvin Gaye and serves up Belgian and Southern cuisine. OK, maybe it's not exactly what you thought. A little history lesson: the legendary soul singer-songwriter was born in DC and later spent a period of self-imposed exile in Belgium to rehabilitate and reflect. At Marvin, you'll find dishes like Belgian moulles-frites and southern-style shrimp, plus grits and fried chicken over Belgian waffles. There's a roof deck perfect for sipping cocktails on, too.

A two-story Victorian restaurant and lounge, Lost Society has a rooftop bar with indoor and outdoor seating. The downstairs dining room's swanky, wrap-around bar and exposed brick walls give the space an underground feel with plenty of natural light seeping through the floor to ceiling windows.

The Haus is a 7,000sqft bastion of Bavarian revelry, with twin darkwood upstairs/downstairs bars backed by rows of ornamental steins and mounted deer heads, plus a gorgeously wood-fenced, massive outdoor space for you to enjoy in warmer weather.

This sexy English pub is decked out with antler chandeliers, stuffed animals (the cool kind), and lots of Old World touches sure to make you feel like a true gent. Take in some gourmet pub grub on the wood-heavy middle level, or sip one of their inspired beer cocktails (like the Cider Snakebite: lager, cider, and black currant liqueur) on the elegant and spacious roofdeck.

Inspired by the same-named fictional pub from an English sitcom called EastEnders which was probably full of awesomely dry humor/gross women, The Vic's upstairs is set off with a Brazilian walnut bar & upcycled tables made from the old rafters (plus a 20-

On hot days, this sexy rooftop bar at Thomas Circle is the perfect oasis away from the humid city streets. Cool off poolside with Asian-inspired bites and summer-themed cocktails, sake, and chilled wine.